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America the Interesting: 7 Books for Kids About Our Amazing Country

by Devon Corneal

Photo credit: Ariel Skelley, Blend Images/ Getty Images

There’s plenty to celebrate about our country — from its fascinating history, to its extraordinary historical figures, to its breathtaking landscapes. We’ve collected seven books that give us a glimpse into the incredible people, places, and things that make the United States a country to be proud of.

This is one of my all-time favorite books. It’s nice to be reminded that before they were historic figures, our founding fathers were, well, kids. Checking in on our colonial heroes during their childhoods, you’ll discover that George Washington was a delinquent with an unhealthy attachment to his axe and Thomas Jefferson was a teacher’s worst nightmare. Ben Franklin, John Hancock, and Paul Revere suffer from similar flaws, but none of that takes away from their incredible accomplishments.

We spend a lot of time talking about our founding fathers, but the women who helped shape this country get less attention. Take a stroll through A is for Abigail for a virtual encyclopedia of great American women and their contributions to our country. If that won’t make you proud, I don’t know what will.

The “Who Was?” series is a wonderful collection of biographies about the people who helped build America. The series encompasses names from sports, film, politics, the arts, science, and business. Curious kids can read about everyone from Sacagawea to Ben Franklin, Jackie Robinson, Stephen Spielberg, Annie Oakley, Dolly Parton, Henry Ford, Michelle Obama, and more.

I can’t ever keep all the square and rectangle states straight. They confuse me, sitting in the middle of the country, all square-ish. I console myself that they’ll always be right where they should be though. Nice and predictable. Unless, of course, Kansas gets bored and throws a party and Virginia and Idaho convince all the states to switch places.

As richly absorbing as its magazine, National Geographic’s U.S. atlas for kids is a cornucopia of interesting facts about, well, everything. From maps to photo-essays to fun facts about the states, this atlas has it all. Better yet, it’s interactive; kids can go online and link to articles, games, videos, and more. Talk about interesting!

Not all of our revolutionaries were fighters; some of them, like Noah Webster, helped created a united America through words. Noah Webster created Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language, which was the first American dictionary and helped unite the former colonies by establish a national language for America. The culmination of a lifetime of work, Webster gave his dictionary to his fellow citizens “for their happiness and learning ... for their moral and religious elevation ... and for the glory of my country.”

This is a wonderfully lighthearted look at the places, documents, and holidays that have come to symbolize the United States. From Uncle Sam to the Liberty Bell to Plymouth Rock, O, Say Can You See is a wonderful introduction into the emblems of the American experience.